Tito Towns: A History of Names
- Donald Niebyl
- Jun 29
- 45 min read
Updated: Jul 1
The impact that President Josip Broz Tito had upon the landscape of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia cannot be overstated. In his honor, the name of “TITO” was bestowed upon streets, squares, schools, etc. across every corner of the nation. There was even a practice of emblazoning his name in larger-than-life letters on the sides of mountains and written in vegetation in the middle of urban areas [learn more about this HERE]. This practice was emblematic of the cult of personality that surrounded Tito and part of the honorific celebration of the man who was heralded as the savior of the region for his victorious fight against fascist forces during WWII. In addition, this renaming of places on behalf of TIto was employed as a cultural tool intended to cultivate a unified national identity across this newly formed, war-torn and extremely culturally diverse nation, particularly in the years just after the war when the region was particularly fractured. As such, the renaming of places in honor of President Tito became deeply intertwined within the cultural fabric of Yugoslavia, while also serving as a political means to reinforce the Communist Party’s ideological messaging and presence within everyday life.
Aside from streets and squares, the most impactful and meaningful way that Tito’s name was inscribed upon the landscape was in the renaming of cities and towns across Yugoslavia. This practice began almost as soon as WWII came to an end. Roughly six months after the end of the war, the Lika-region town of Korenica was renamed to Titov Korenica on December 5th, 1945. This renaming was intended as a gesture to reward the town for its significant revolutionary and anti-fascist efforts that it demonstrated during the war. This was followed up the following year with the SR Macedonia town of Veles being renamed to Titov Veles on October 11th, 1946, the city of Podgorica, SR Montenegro being renamed Titograd (or “Tito’s City”) on July 13th, 1946 and the city of Užice, SR Serbia being changed to Titovo Užice on July 8th, 1946. During Josip Broz Tito’s leadership of Yugoslavia, these were the only four major communities in the country that bore his name. As far as what sources relate, this effort was not an organic initiative agreed upon by the town’s themselves, but instead a top-down effort by republic-level governments, with guidance or approval by the federal authorities. In this sense, these “Tito Towns” themselves served as sorts of “monuments” to Tito, as well as to the wartime heroism and sacrifice of each individual community. During the era of Yugoslavia, to be a “Tito Town” was culturally seen as an illustrious status symbol to be proud of, something that could bring national recognition, prestige, tourism and investment. Residents of Tito Towns felt pride, but also pressure to embody the national ideals that came with living in cities that were viewed as the standard-bearers of Yugoslav socialist values.
When President Tito passed away on May 4th, 1980, a new wave of commemoration of his legacy began. On some level, federal or republic (it is not clear which), an initiative was set forward after Tito’s death to have one major community in each of Yugoslavia’s six socialist republics (as well as Serbia’s two autonomous regions) be renamed in honor of Tito. This was not a “ruling” or “directive”, as many sources suggest, but an open initiative that cities across the republics were happy to oblige and many communities competed for this honor. Similar to the renaming of the first four cities, these subsequent four cities to be given this “Tito” rebranding were chosen in part for their connection to Tito and their contribution during the Partisan war effort during WWII. However, some cities were chosen for their open fostering of Yugoslav ideals such as “Brotherhood & Unity”, ethnic diversity and successful self-managing industry. In fostering this new round of urban renaming across Yugoslavia in honor of Tito during the early 1980s, there was an intention to not only further emphasize the leader’s cultural importance to the nation, but it was also utilized as a campaign toward renewed national unity, as the 1980s were a period of intense cultural, ethnic and political division across the country. After Tito’s passing, there was a popular phrase that took hold across the nation: “After Tito – TITO!”, a slogan that emphasized that even after Tito’s passing, the country would continue to be unified and prosperous, just as it was during the heyday of his leadership. This new wave of city name changes very much played into this ideology.
In 1984, the RTV Sarajevo television channel aired a documentary highlighting life and culture in all of Yugoslavia’s “Tito Towns”. This documentary featured not only the status and heritage of each of these cities, but it particularly focused on these communities' youth. In the 80s, all of the Tito Towns had organized collective youth summits and sports competitions, all intended to bring together young people from each of these cities in Yugoslavia to exhibit “Brotherhood & Unity” and national cooperation, while also serving as a demonstration of such principles to the rest of the country.
However, with the coming of the 1990s, the country of Yugoslavia began a slow dismantling, catalyzed by a series of wars over the course of the decade. As each of the former socialist republics gained independence over time, subsequently, each of the “Tito Towns” reverted back to their former names. In some cases this reversion was done within an atmosphere of peace and local decision making, in other cases, it was done in the aftermath of war, upheaval and unrest.
In the following sections, we will explore each of the “Tito Towns” across the former Yugoslavia, examining their history, the events leading up to their “Tito” name change and the events which led to them subsequently reverting back to their former names. In addition, we will also investigate the atmosphere of these communities after their name changes and how the legacy of being TIto Towns affects them up to the present day.
Titograd (today Podgorica, Montenegro)
The city of Podgorica today exists as the capital city of the country of Montenegro. However, the elevation of this city to the capital is a historically recent event. Before WWII, the city of Podgorica was simply a large settlement on the Zeta River plains, while the city of Cetinje stood as the capital of the Zeta Banovina province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During WWII, Podgorica was heavily bombed and devastated by air raids. These raids were perpetrated by the Axis powers in the beginning of the war as a means to subdue the city, while the Allied powers also heavily attacked the city with bombers towards the end of the war when targeting German troops attempting to flee through it. It is estimated that over 4,000 people in the city were killed in total by these bombing campaigns, which totaled over 70. Thus, by 1945, Podgorica was in complete ruins.
After the end of WWII and the victory of the Yugoslav communists under Josip Broz Tito, Montenegro was established as one of the country’s new socialist republics on November 15th, 1945. Being that region’s former capital Cetinje was a small isolated mountain community, it was unsuitable as a capital for the new republic. Podgorica, sitting at the middle of the Zeta River plains, was much more suitable as a capital, being that it had room to expand, good transportation links and was much more centrally located within the republic. On the 12th of July, 1946, Josip Broz Tito arrived for his first official (as well as first ever) visit to Podgorica, having just come from the Serbian city of Užice (with the town having declared its new name to be “Titovo Užice” just a few days before during his stay).
On the following day, the 13th, Tito gave an address at a large rally in Podgorica, with his close aid Milovan Đilas by his side (who was himself Montenegrin). The date of this speech marked the fifth anniversary of “Montenegro Uprising Day”, when public rebellion was declared against Axis occupation in 1941. Much of Tito’s speech revolved around his dedication to rebuilding the devastated city and how he is pledging his government to this purpose. In addition, one story, as related by Montenegrin writer and historian Rajko Cerović, asserts that during this first historic address to the city, Tito gestured to Đilas and said, “Now, one of your fellow Montenegrins, a much better speaker than I, will address you”. More than likely wanting to impress TIto, Đilas went on to declare, “from today onwards, this town will be named after Tito”. It is said that from this moment, Podgorica’s name is changed to “Titograd”, in honor of Tito (literally “Tito’s City”), and that it will now be the capital of the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro. The legislative process of the City Assembly of Podgorica subsequently formalized this name change, while Montenegro’s Presidency of the National Assembly formalized the change in capital (on July 25th, 1948), with both being retroactively applied to the 13th of July, 1946, when Tito gave his speech in the city.
However, it must be noted that as the story goes, other sources relate that instead of Đilas declaring himself that the city would be named after Tito, another source asserts that Đilas instructed an old Montenegrin man in national costume to take the stage and make a fiery speech to Tito himself that the city would be from then on named after him. Sadly, myth isn’t always easy to separate from truth. Yet, in the July 28th, 1946 issue of the newspaper “Pobjeda”, it states: “The suggestion for this change of name came from the National Assembly of the town of Podgorica as a faithful interpretation of the desire and determination of the people living in this town…” Meanwhile, there is an interesting question about what the official name of the city was meant to be in the first place: “Titograd” or Titovgrad”, with historical records not entirely clear on the matter and some asserting that the city had the wrong name for 47 years. More about that confusing debacle can be found in THIS article.
The naming of Podgorica to Titograd was a unique manifestation in the realm of all cities in Yugoslavia named after Tito, as it was the only one that resulted in a complete name change of the city instead of just adding a “Tito” prefix in front of the city’s name (as all of the others entailed). With much of Titograd needing to be rebuilt from the ashes after WWII, this dramatic renaming of the city was certainly embraced by the population in a symbolic sense. As a new capital city was constructed, adorned with modern architecture, services and factories, the name “Titograd” stood as a reminder to the population of the larger-than-life leader who had made it all possible. Historic sources recount that Titograd was referred to as the “city of youth, joy, and bright colors”, illustrating a collective enthusiasm for the city and for the name.
However, with the dismantling of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, there was an upwelling of resentment towards the communist system and its symbols, as well as a push for “de-Titoization”. As such, in March of 1992, a public referendum was held on the question of whether the name “Titograd” should be kept or whether the city’s name should be changed back to “Podgorica”. In the end, over 70% of voters wanted the city’s name to go back to Podgorica. Consequently, Montenegro’s Assembly adopted the name change and on April 2nd 1992, Montenegrin President Momir Bulatović signed into law that Titograd would henceforth be known as Podgorica.
Despite Tito’s name being gone from the city, his presence is still felt on its streets. The name of one of the main thoroughfares in the city has retained the name “Josip Broz Tito” Street, while one of Antun Augustinčić’s famous 1948 bronze sculptures of Tito was erected along St. Peter of Cetinje Boulevard (formerly 'Vladimir Lenin Boulevard' during the Yugoslav-era) within a park next to Hotel Podgorica along the Morača River in 2018. Meanwhile, you may walk across manhole covers on the street that bear the name “Titograd” as you listen to “Radio Titograd” on your way to go watch a match of the “OFK Titograd” football club. Of all the former “Tito Towns”, I would say that Podgorica has forgotten their former name the least. Lastly, it is interesting to note that numerous out-of-date road signs across the greater region (particularly around southwestern Serbia) can still be found that point motorists in the direction of “Titograd”.
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Podgorica on the legacy of “Titograd”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović.
Titov Drvar (today Drvar, BiH)
It was during WWII that, for a brief time, the town of Drvar became the center of Yugoslavia. Distraught by the continued problem the Partisan resistance was causing, the German Army devised a plan called "Operation Rösselsprung" (Knight's Leap) to destroy the Partisan headquarters and kill its leader Josip Broz Tito -- this was also the final stage of the German Army's master-plan of "Seven Enemy Offensives" meant to wipe out the Partisans. After the Allied defeat of the Italians in September of 1943, Tito took this opportunity to seize more territory in western Bosnia and create a permanent headquarters within a mountain cave just outside the small mountain town of Drvar. Thus, it was Drvar that became the hyper focus of Axis attention. Launched on May 25th, 1944, the assault combined an invasion by a parachute drop by the German 500th SS Parachute Battalion, with ground forces provided by the XV Mountain Corps and the Croatian (NDH) 1st Regimental Group 373rd, which would all collectively descend onto Drvar. In addition, during this invasion, the German Luftwaffe dropped bombs onto the city. However, despite the vast amount of planning put into this operation by German intelligence and tactical commanders, Tito ultimately managed to escape and flew to safety to the island of Vis in the Adriatic, even despite him actually being present in the town of Drvar at the onset of the German air assault.
The citizenry of Drvar were instrumental in helping to hide Tito and his headquarters. Even after the Germans troops entered and took over the town after Tito’s escape, despite much of the townsfolk knowing exactly where Tito had escaped to, no one ever gave away the secret of his location. Thus, in Tito’s eyes, Drvar was always an extremely special town that had aided and harbored him during one of the most crucial points in the war and during one of his most daring of escapes. As a result of their wartime contribution, on May 17th, 1974, Tito bestowed upon the entire town of Drvar the Order of the People’s Hero, only the second town to receive this distinction after Ljubljana (though one town in each of the six republics and two autonomous provinces were each also eventually granted the honor). A few weeks later on June 1st of 1974, Tito visited Drvar to personally gifted members of the Drvar municipality the Order of the People’s Hero medals.
After Tito’s death a few years later in 1980, it was decided that one of the towns in the socialist republic of Bosnia & Hercegovina (SSRN BiH) should be honored with Tito’s name. The Socialist Alliance of Working Peoples of BiH was granted the latitude to choose which town should receive this privilege. The top two picks this organization made for consideration were Drvar and Bihać, as Bihać was also a pivotal town of Partisan resistance and uprising during WWII (read more about this HERE). Invariably, the SSRN BiH elected for Drvar to be the town to receive the honor of being named after Tito. As such, on November 24th, 1981, a special session was convened by the Drvar municipality where a decree was passed stating that the town would from then on be known as “Titov Drvar”. This session was attended by Raif Dizdarević, the President of the Presidency of the SR of BiH. With this new designation, Titov Drvar became the only city in Yugoslavia that was both named after Tito and that also held the distinction of being an “Order of the People’s Hero” City. Interestingly, the day of Titov Drvar’s name change, November 24th, 1981, was just one day after the city of Mitrovica changed its name to “Titova Mitrovica”.
For nine years after this point, the town referred to itself as Titov Drvar. Unfortunately, there is very little information in regards to the general sentiment the people of the town had towards this name change, though, nothing seems to indicate that such feelings were anything other than neutral to positive. This perspective changed however in the early 1990s, as Yugoslavia underwent a dismantling process. In November of 1990, multi-party elections were finally allowed in BiH. In Drvar, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) won the municipality’s election. This result was not surprising, as Bosnian Serbs made up the majority of the population of the Drvar region at this time. A few months later on July 31st, 1991, the Drvar Municipal Assembly passed a decree that the prefix “Titov” should be removed from the town’s name and that it should henceforth be simply known as “Drvar”. Local politicians voiced concerns that Tito’s name being attached to the town was no longer “appropriate”. However, the Assembly of the SR of BiH refused to accept this decree and declared it invalid. Yet, Bosnian Serb politicians in Drvar flaunted the ruling and continued the removal of the “Titov” prefix from the town’s name. Despite this, the republic assembly never pursued the matter any further, particularly as the political situation in the republic as a whole continued to deteriorate. After 1992, I was unable to find “Titov Drvar” listed on any maps of Bosnia, though I did find reports from international agencies using the name as late as 1998.
With the start of the Bosnian War in 1995, the town of Drvar experienced significant devastation and violence. Much of the Bosnian Serb population fled the area after advances and shelling by the Croatian Army, a situation that led to large demographic changes and ethnic upheaval in the town over the subsequent years. When Croatian forces subsequently took over Drvar in August of 1995 after “Operation Storm”, no effort was made on their part to reinstitute the “Titov” prefix to the town’s name. In 1996, the large Monument to Fallen Fighters in the center of Drvar, an important Yugoslav-era symbol in the community, was completely destroyed (more info on that HERE). Up to the present day, the relationship between the Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian Croats in Drvar continues to be tense and complicated. Despite this, there is still great appreciation for the town’s Yugoslav heritage and TIto’s connection to the town, as the Tito’s Cave museum and historical site have been restored and are again open to the public, an attraction that still draws appreciable tourism to the community. In fact, the museum that is part of the Tito’s Cave memorial site has a huge amount of historical information, artifacts and history about Tito’s time in Drvar, as well as selling merchandise in its gift shop valorizing Tito and Yugoslavia. In fact, there is a memorial wooden signpost located on grounds of the museum that identifies and points in the direction (listing the distance) to all of the former Tito Towns. As far as I’ve been able to establish, this signpost marker (as modest as it may be) serves as the only monument in existence that commemorates and signifies all of the former Tito Towns.
Meanwhile, the main boulevard running through the town center of Drvar has for the last decade or so been known as “Ulica TItova/Tito’s Street”, after having gone through several other name changes during the 1990s from its Yugoslav-era name “Marshal TIto Street”. So, it is clear that the legacy of Tito in Drvar has most certainly not been forgotten, though, the town’s connection to its previous name does not rise to the same level of enthusiasm as one can witness with Podgorica/Titograd. In the case of “Titov Drvar”, the name would seem to be fully retired. Though, as recent as 2007, road signs could still be found around the greater region that pointed in the direction of “Titov Drvar”. I have been told that as of 2025, one still exists in Martin Brod.
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Drvar on the legacy of “Titov Drvar”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović.
Titova Korenica (today Korenica, Croatia)
While it may seem small and unassuming today, the town of Korenica was among the most important seats of resistance and uprising during WWII in Yugoslavia. Situated at the heart of the Lika region in what is today Croatia, during WWII, it was a fierce Partisan stronghold. Not far from Korenica, in the village of Srb, was the epicenter of what was known as the Srb Uprising, which was some of the first active armed opposition to the occupying Axis powers in all the region. The impetus for this resistance was largely instigated by Marko Orešković, who the Communist Party of Yugoslavia had sent to Lika in order to foment unrest against the Ustaše and to organize a coordinated communist revolutionary Partisan army. Through Partisan resistance efforts, the Korenica region became part of a large liberated territory spanning across much of present-day Lika, Dalmatia and western Bosnia. During WWII, Korenica was the town from which much of the Partisan resistance across Lika was coordinated.
As a result of these notable revolutionary efforts during the war, on October 5th, 1945, the Minister of the Interior of Croatia, Vicko Krstulović (himself a decorated Partisan fighter who battled in this region), declared that Korenica was to be named after Tito, giving it the name “Titova Korenica”. His decree finally went into effect on December 5th, 1945. As a result, this became the first location in Yugoslavia named after President Josip Broz Tito. In the official write-up of the Korenica name change decision, Krstulović writes: “The people of the Korenica district have on several occasions clearly expressed their will to call the town of Korenica "Titova Korenica/Tito's Korenica", as the people already call it, wanting to give a visible sign of their love and gratitude to the great leader of the liberation struggle of the people of Yugoslavia”. While records would suggest this change was the result of a populist movement, no local referendum, vote or representative action to establish the temperament of the community towards this name change was ever held.
Tito made his first visit to the Titova Korenica just a few months later during July/August of 1946 during a general post-war train tour of the Lika region. Interestingly, Tito was accompanied on this trip by Fiorello La Guardia, who was then serving as the Director General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, a position he took up in 1946 after notably serving for eight years as the mayor of New York City. As a part of this trip, Tito was present there in Titova Korenica on July 27th, 1946 in order to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Srb Uprising of the Lika region. In fact, Tito had such a connection to this town that bore his name that he had constructed for his use a massive holiday villa at the nearby Plitvice Lakes. Named “Vila Izvor” and built in 1953, Tito visited here numerous times during his life (more info HERE). While there are not a great deal of sources that relate local feelings towards the town’s “Titova” designation, what information that does exist indicates that the community was proud of this title during the height of the Yugoslav-era, with some sources relating that the Pioneer youth of TItova Korenica put on some of the most elaborate and charismatic May Day celebrations in the region. Furthermore, what is evident is that Titova Korenica was an important heritage location within the broader context of Yugoslav historical commemoration and celebration, as the region was home to numerous memorial sites of great importance, such as the Marko Orešković Monument, the Bijeli Potoci-Kamensko Monument and the Memorial House of the 6th Proletariat Division [more info HERE].
However, by the early 1990s, the political situation in the greater region of Titova Korenica began to head towards a violent flashpoint. The town lay at the middle of a vast area across Lika, Dalmatia, Kordun, Banija, and further beyond within Croatia that contained an ethnic-Serb majority. As the Serbs in this region became alarmed and dissatisfied at the political direction that Croatia was headed (particularly in relation to the Croatian leader Franjo Tuđman, who they saw as a Croatian nationalist), they made the decision in December of 1990 to create their own autonomous zone within the Croatian republic, calling themselves the Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina (also known as the SAO Krajina). Just a few months later in March of 1991, the SAO Krajina declared that they were seceding from Croatia and were instead now part of the republic of Serbia. On the 31st of that same month, SAO Krajina forces heading north from the direction of Titova Korenica were attempting to secure the Plitvice Lakes National Park as part of SAO Krajina territory. During this effort, SAO Krajina forces engaged in a skirmish with Croatian police, which resulted in two deaths (one on each side). The deaths in this skirmish just north of Titova Korenica are cited as being the very first deaths of the Yugoslav Wars. At the exact spot where the Croatian police officer Josip Jović was killed exists a monument dedicated to this event [photo]. It is no doubt tragic, and perhaps darkly symbolic, that the first deaths of this long series of bloody wars occurred just outside of the first town to be named in honor of Tito, while at the same time being a place that Tito himself spent so much of his leisure time. Then, it was just a few weeks after this incident that the dismantling of Yugoslavia began, with the declaration of independence from both Croatia and Slovenia.
During the early 1990s time period that the SAO Krajina was active (as well as its subsequent incarnation, the “Republic of Serbian Krajina”), there are sources which indicate that the prefix “Titova” had already been informally removed and in disuse from the name of the town “TItova Korenica”. While such documentation from this time period on this specific topic in that community is limited, such a change would be consistent with changes made by other ethnic-Serb dominated regions for the time period. In August of 1995, the Croatian Army took control of Serbian Krajina during Operation Storm and the war in the region came to an end. Local accounts assert that the town was informally given the name “Tuđmanova Korenica” in the time period just after the war, named after Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, though, I’ve not been able to verify this in any records. However, it was not until February 7th of 1997 when the Zadar-Knin Municipality adopted the Law of the Territories of Countries, Cities and Municipalities that the name of Titova Korenica was officially changed back to simply “Korenica”. Yet, I found SFOR maps as late as 1998 still listing the town as Titova Korenica.
Today, there is very little recognition or reference in the cultural heritage of the town that harkens back to its “TItova” background. Locally, there are no indications or evidence any longer that the town had any connection to Tito (much less it ever being a place named after him). The town’s main square, which had been named after Tito, was renamed to “Square of St. George/Trg Sv. Juraj”, while all previously mentioned local WWII sites have either been destroyed, dismantled or altered. Tito’s former nearby residence at Plitvice Lakes “Vila Izor” was devastated during the 1990s and today only sits as a ruin. In current times, the town of Korenica primarily exists as a tourist jumping-off-point and lodging location for the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Similar to Drvar, the “Titova” prefix has been fully retired, but even further, it would seem to have been also fully forgotten.
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Korenica on the legacy of “Titova Korenica”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović.
Titovo Užice (today Užice, Serbia)
Of the towns in Yugoslavia that imparted one of the most legendary dramas of the Partisan struggle during WWII, the story of Užice is among the most remembered and historic. In the autumn of 1941, the Partisans liberated the town of Užice from German control and established what they named the “Republic of Užice”, which some sources recount as being the first liberated territory within Axis-occupied Europe. Within Užice, the Partisans set up their command headquarters within the town's central bank, using the facility's underground vaults for munitions manufacturing. With Partisan troops liberating the expelling German forces from the region and establishing this new Partisan-controlled Republic, its commander Josip Broz Tito traveled from hiding in Belgrade to join his forces at Užice. In response to this action by the Partisans, the Germans put into action "Operation Užice" to regain this territory, with this serving as the first significant German-led anti-Partisan effort of WWII. On November 28th, Užice's Worker's Battalion were ordered to intercept the German troops, who had been spotted advancing up towards the ridge of Kadinjača mountain, only 14km away from Užice. However, before the Germans troops were able to reach the ridge of Kadinjača, they were intercepted by the Partisan forces. The German division, made up of well over 3,000 soldiers, far outnumbered the roughly 400 Partisan fighters of the Worker's Battalion, yet, the Partisan unit fought on regardless. As a consequence, nearly all of members of the Worker's Battalion were killed in combat, yet, they stood their ground for nearly 6 hours, this gave ample time for a retreat of civilians (along with Tito and the Partisan leadership at the Supreme Headquarters) out of Užice and to safety.
This story greatly resonated with the people of Yugoslavia and brought it much attention and fanfare after the war. On July 7th, 1946, President TIto made an official visit to Užice for the first time since the end of the war to preside over the fifth anniversary of the Day of Uprising of Serbia. The day was marked with a large event in “Freedom Square” consisting of festivities and rally speeches given by Tito, politicians, veterans and other dignitaries. During the event, a set of remarks were given by the KPJ politician Dobrivoje Vidić, who was at that time the secretary of the District Committee of the KPJ for the Užice District. In the middle of his remarks, Vidić addressed Tito, asking him to honor Užice by allowing the city to be named in his honor: “We have decided that we ask that our city in which you led the fight for the liberation of our country with your consent will be your name and that it will be called “Titovo Užice”. We hope that you will give your consent to this. At the same time, the City Board and citizens of the city of Užice are asking you to accept you as the honorary citizen of our city because we believe that the city of Užice is your second place in which you were born for our peoples and it was precisely what guided us to address you with this request”.
This proposal was met with thunderous applause by the audience. The following day on July 8th, the Assembly of the People’s Republic of Serbia passed the Law on Changing the Name of the City of Užice, officially changing the name to “Titovo Užice”. The day after the Assembly session on July 9th, a delegation from Užice travelled to Zlatibor, where Tito had headed to next after his stay in Užice, to receive his approval for this name change. He humbly accepted. This change was much celebrated by the local community, both for the prestige it brought as well as the investment and industry it brought to the region. For instance, in 1950, the massive “Slobodan Penezić Krcun” aluminum plant was opened in the city, while Titovo Užice’s town center underwent massive redevelopment and modernization. The town’s main square, renamed “Partisan Square”, was updated with towering apartment blocks, a national theater, department stores, among other modern amenities. At the center of Partisan Square, a 5m tall bronze statue of Josip Broz Tito was erected in 1961, the work of the notable Croatian sculptor Frano Kršinić, which was at the time the tallest Tito statue in the country. During his life, Tito visited Titovo Užice upwards of 13 times, with the final time being in 1979 during the unveiling of the Kadinjača Memorial Complex just outside of the city [more info HERE]. Amidst the era of Titovo Užice, it was a thriving industrial town, with plentiful jobs and a significant tourism sector.
However, its fortunes took a downturn during the 1980s as Yugoslavia’s economy began to suffer. By the beginning of the 1990s, the political situation and views on national identity [Yugoslavism] in the country began to deteriorate and nationalism began to grow. This wave of unrest was manifested in Titovo Užice in various ways. Firstly, the municipality held a referendum on removing the “Titovo” prefix from the name of the city on April 21st, 1991. Yet, the results from this referendum were nullified as a consequence of the lack of participation from the city’s residents, as only 29% of the voters took part. It was not until a few months later on July 24th, 1991 that Serbia’s National Assembly passed the “Law on Territorial Organization” (a decree that removed Tito’s name from places and locations across the republic), that the prefix “Titovo” was officially removed from the town of Užice after 45 years. Roughly a month later on August 22nd, 1991, the Užice Municipal Council, at the recommendation of the Executive Council of Serbia, made the decision to remove the Tito statue in Partisan Square and place it in an out-of-the-way inconspicuous courtyard in the back of the Užice Museum (the former Partisan HQ during the war). With removal work being undertaken by the “Zlatibor” Construction Company (the same company that had installed it 30 years earlier), efforts towards relocation of the Tito statue took place on August 28th, 1991. This removal attracted a huge group of people (largely young people) who were gleefully celebrating the statue’s removal, which included throwing beer bottles at it, stepping on its face, and burning photos of Tito. Though, many others looked on in solemn disbelief and disappointment. An archival newsreel video of that scene can be watched at THIS YouTube link. During researching this, I found sources that recounted a myth that all the youth who climbed atop and desecrated Tito’s statue during its removal subsequently died of mysterious circumstances, but this urban legend has been largely discounted. After its removal, the statue was then indeed taken to the rear courtyard of the Užice Museum, where it stands up to the present day.
Furthermore, on August 2nd, 1994, the Užice Municipality passed the “Decision on the Naming of Squares and Streets”, where all of the streets and squares in Užice that bore TIto’s name or the name of those related to the city’s Partisan legacy were to be renamed. This also included streets in the city that were named after other Tito Towns, such as Titov Veles Street and Titograd Street. However, the one notable exception to this renaming initiative was Partisan Square, its name was left intact and remains so up until today.
Despite being relegated to the inconspicuous back courtyard of the Užice Museum, the Tito statue continues to be an often visited tourist landmark. In fact, there have been numerous initiatives over the decades by citizen groups in Užice to have the statue relocated to its original setting within Partisan Square. However, as of yet, none of these have succeeded. Within this discussion, it is important to point out that Užice has not yet replaced the former spot of Tito’s statue in Partisan Square with any new statues, sculptures or monuments. The spot lays vacant, as if it is awaiting Tito’s return at some point in the distant future. The views of the people of Užice towards Tito and their former “Titovo” prefix is a nuanced and complex matter. In the years since the dismantling of Yugoslavia, the fortunes of Užice have stagnated and industry has diminished. Jobs are more scarce and young people move away. As such, some nostalgic people look to the period of Titovo Užice as a more bountiful time, where the city had more respect and prestige. Though, many others view that socialist era as a time of servitude and a lack of freedom under Communist Party rule. Similar to his statue, although the spirit of Tito is gone from the public face (and name) of Užice, it can often be found lurking just around the corner in an out-of-the-way spot. On this note, it must be pointed out that while TIto’s statue was removed, all of the major WWII Partisan monuments in the vicinity of Užice, such as the Kadinjača Memorial Complex, the Munitions Disaster Monument, the Lomača Monument and the "Partisan Monument of 1941" Mosaic, have all been left intact and are still memorialized and maintained. Finally, there are a few rare signs left that can be found around the region of western Serbia that still point the way to Titovo Užice, as if they past has not yet happened.
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Užice on the legacy of “Titovo Užice”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović. Also, this 2020 paper by Bojana Bogdanović is an excellent resource for more info on this topic.
Titov Vrbas (today Vrbas, Serbia)
While Korenica was the first town to be bestowed with its “Tito” prefix, the very last community in Yugoslavia to receive its prefix was Vrbas, located in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (in the Bačka cultural region) in the SR of Serbia. Of all the former Tito Towns, it is the one most often overlooked and forgotten, as it was so late in adopting its name, as well as because its designation was not related to its historical events of WWII and because it was a slightly remote not well-known community within Yugoslavia at the time it was chosen. Though, I must note that, despite the acclaims and distinction that the town received in receiving its title, I was not able to find any sources that indicated that President Josip Broz Tito ever visited the community.
After President Tito’s passing in 1980, the cult of personality surrounding him and the eagerness to honor his legacy resulted in every socialist republic and autonomous province in Yugoslavia having a desire to have a community named after him. There were six candidate towns chosen by the Assembly of Vojvodina in 1983 to potentially receive the honor of having Tito’s name. The top two contenders for this recognition were Vrbas and Vršac. The metric for making a final decision was based off of the town having qualities that exemplified Yugoslavism and Worker Self Management as a whole. The community should be culturally diverse, it should be rich in local crafts and cultural trades, it should have high employment, it should have a highly functional agriculture and industrial sector, it should be a positive contributor to regional trade and commerce, as well having a high standard of living for its residents. Vrbas itself excelled in this representation. It had significant cultural and ethnic diversity, with a large contingent of Hungarians, Montenegrins, Rusyns, Ukrainians, Croats, among others, living amongst its slight Serbian majority population, all of whom resided in relative peace together. In addition, it had a notable industrial base, with the oil and vegetable fat factory "Vital", the sugar factory "Bačka" and the meat processor "Karneks". Furthermore, Vrbas sits along the Great Bačka Canal, a significant industrial transport thoroughfare that even further amplified its commercial reach and importance.
It was for all of these factors that on May 5th, 1983, the Vojvodina Assembly made the decision to honor the town with the name “Titov Vrbas”. Anecdotal sources relate that the people of Vrbas felt certain that it was going to be Vršac that would receive the honor, so, when they were invariably granted the name, they were extremely surprised and elated. The name was officially adopted during that year’s Youth Day celebrations on May 25th, 1983. During these celebrations, a polished marble memorial plaque was set up in the center of Vrbas which read in English as: “The city and municipality of Vrbas are now in the name of Tito. -Titov Vrbas, May 25th, 1983”. The plaque had this inscription written out in three languages: Hungarian, Rusyan and Serbian. As far as I have been able to establish, Titov Vrbas was the only one of the TIto Towns that had a physical monument commemorating its name change.
Other than the addition of the plaque in the center of the city, minimal other alterations were made to TItov Vrbas towards the recognition of this name change. Even before the name change in 1983, the main street through the center of town was already known as “Marshal Tito”, while streets across the town were named after WWII Partisan heroes and military units. In addition, the central square of Titov Vrbas contained a WWII memorial obelisk created in 1951. While little information exists about the temperament that people of the town had during this era towards their community’s name change, all sources that I do find indicate that it was a positive reception and warmly received honor.
However, during the dismantling of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the mood in Titov Vrbas seemed to change. On July 24th, 1991, Serbia’s National Assembly passed the “Law on Territorial Organization” (a decree that removed Tito’s name from places and locations across the republic). The municipal assembly in February of 1992 passed a motion to change the name of the town back to “Vrbas”, with the final change being enacted on August 12th, 1992. While I was not able to find any specific sources on the matter, the memorial stone plaque in the center of town marking the Vrbas’ name change was shattered and heavily damaged at some point during this transition. The damaged plaque was reassembled and relocated to the Vrbas City Museum, where it resides up to the present day.
Furthermore, despite the name change, the name of Marshal Tito Street, as well as the other streets in town memorializing WWII Partisans, were all preserved and maintained, continuing to exist up to the present. The WWII memorial obelisk was also preserved. Of all the Tito Towns, Titov Vrbas was not only the last to receive its prefix, it was also the one to hold it for the shortest amount of time, just barely over nine years. As such, it did not have as visible nor an enduring effect as some other Tito Towns in Yugoslavia, but it was still significant nonetheless. Up until the 2010s, road signs remained across the region pointing the direction towards “Titov Vrbas” (and a scattered few may exist still).
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Vrbas on the legacy of “Titov Vrbas”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović.
Titova Mitrovica (today [Kosovska] Mitrovica, Serbia/Kosovo)
Of all of the former Tito Towns, the one with perhaps the most contentious (and divided) history is that of Titova Mitrovica. Sitting at the southern reaches of the Kopaonik Mountains along the Ibar River, the town has had a long history of being ethnically diverse, with both ethnic-Serbs and ethnic-Albanians (along with a small mix of other minorities) living here. During WWII, the town was a central focus for German forces as a result of its valuable Trepča mines. Overseen by Nazi political leader Hermann Goering, its mines had ore extractions of over 500 tons/day of zinc and lead shipped to Germany for the manufacture of munitions, armament and other war supplies. It was not long after this German seizure that these Trepča mine workers began planning an uprising against this Nazi oppression and collectively formed the organized Partisan-aligned 'Miner's Troop' unit to combat and to rebel against this occupation and abuse. Even before WWII, Trepča miners had a long history of organizing themselves into workers’ unions and striking against worker exploitation. The Miner’s Troop engaged in sabotage efforts against the mines, aimed at slowing Nazi ore production. These revolts and attacks severely impacted Germany's ability to source raw ore for their war waging efforts, not only because this was one of the most productive mines in Eastern Europe, but also because the Trepča mines supplied Nazi Germany with more than 40% of their lead ore consumption (the main source of materials needed for the batteries used in the submarine fleets). After this act of sabotage at Trepča, this 'Miner's Troop' headed north into the mountains to join forces with the Kopaonik Partisan detachment.
After the end of WWII and the creation of the socialist state of Yugoslavia, the town became part of the SR of Serbia (however, within Serbia, the town was within the region that was set aside as the Autonomous Province of Kosovo & Metohija). Formerly known simply as “Mitrovica” before WWII, afterwards, it took on the name “Kosovska Mitrovica” as a way to differentiate it from the other “Mitrovica” in the Srem region of Serbia called “Sremska Mitrovica”. While the majority of post-war ethnic tensions in Kosovska Mitrovica was largely pacified and calmed (with much integration occurring), the north side of the Ibar River remained as a predominantly ethnic-Serb community while the south side was mostly ethnic-Albanians. They were connected by the Mitrovica Bridge at the center of town. Meanwhile, during the Yugoslav-era, the Trepča mines continued to operate, becoming an important industrial component to the cultural and economic importance of the community. However, despite the massive mine, Kosovska Mitrovica remained comparatively poor when measured against much of the rest of Yugoslavia. There was a notable local saying that reflected this inequality: “Trepča digs, Belgrade builds”. In addition to the mines, the story of the Miner’s Troop became an integral Partisan folk story within the historic narrative of the People’s Liberation Struggle. Sources are sparse on whether Josip Broz Tito ever visited Kosovska Mitrovica, but some unconfirmed accounts do relate that he stopped there briefly during a train trip to Prishtina in April of 1968. In 1973, a massive monument was built overlooking the city dedicated to the Miner’s Troop [more info HERE], created by Belgrade architect Bogdan Bogdanović. The following year in 1974, the new Yugoslav Constitution granted the Kosovo & Metohija region the status of a Socialist Autonomous Province within Serbia, imbuing it with rights that were nearly comparable to that of the country’s socialist republics.
After Tito’s passing in 1980, an initiative to have a Tito Town in every socialist republic and autonomous province in Yugoslavia gained traction. Because of its high ethnic diversity, in addition to the history of the Partisan Miner’s Troop and the town’s heritage of being a mining and labor center (a symbol of Workers’ Self Management), focus was being put on Kosovska Mitrovica as being the representative Tito Town for the province. As was the case with Titov Vrbas in Vojvodina, a whole host of considerations (political and historical) were being evaluated in nominating new communities to be honored with the “Tito” prefix during the early 1980s period. However, in March and April of 1981, a series of mass protests by ethnic-Albanian students spread across the Kosovo province which were demanding that more autonomy be given to the province by the federal government, while some were even going so far to demand that Kosovo be made its own independent country. While the protests started in Prishtina, they eventually made their way to Kosovska Mitrovica. This civil actions eventually evolved into riots, with the police invariably intervening. A state of emergency in the city was declared. While the turmoil was eventually brought under control by the Yugoslav government, it was within this lingering atmosphere of contention and unrest that six months later on November 23rd, 1981 (on the 37th anniversary of its WWII liberation) the city was declared a Tito Town and given the new name “Titova Mitrovica” or “Mitrovica e Titos” in Albanian.
Unfortunately, this name change was not adequately effective at creating unity or pacifying the tensions within Titova Mitrovica. Starting in 1988, the Trepča mines suffered a series of worker strikes where the largely ethnic-Albanian miners protested against Slobodan Milošević (the head of the SR of Serbia) attempting to strip the Kosovo province of its governmental autonomy. This series of events even further inflamed tensions in the community, both ethnic tensions and attitudes towards the Yugoslav government. By 1990, riots and clashes began to break out in Titova Mitrovica between protestors and police, resulting in numerous deaths. These events coincided with the greater national turmoil in Yugoslavia, as the country began to dismantle the following year in 1991. On July 24th, 1991, Serbia’s National Assembly passed the “Law on Territorial Organization” (a decree that removed Tito’s name from places and locations across the republic). At some point between December 1991 and March 1992 (according to various sources), the prefix “Titova” was officially removed from the town’s name and the former prefix “Kosovska” was reinstated. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any accounts relating the specifics surrounding this name change. In addition, in 1992, the main street through the city that passed over Mitrovica Bridge, which formerly bore the name of Marshal TIto Street, was changed as well.
By the late 1990s, the situation in the region was worsening, with protests and violence increasing within Kosovska Mitrovica. The Mitrovica Bridge across the Ibar River, separating the ethnic-Serb north and the ethnic-Albanian south, became a flashpoint for conflict. This tension culminated in the Kosovo War, which lasted between 1998-1999, a horrible struggle characterized by bloody killings, ethnic cleansing and mass displacement of peoples. It only ended after a campaign of NATO bombings in 1999, at which point Yugoslav and Serbian forces were forced to pull out of the region. Even by this point, the south side of the Ibar had informally ceased using the prefix “Kosovska” in their town’s name, as it was seen as redundant. Kosovo declaring independence from Serbia in 2008 created an even further rift between both sides of the community, making it truly a divided city by this point (as Serbia and the ethnic-Serb portions of Kosovo refused to recognize this separation). This division was solidified in 2013 when the city’s north and south were officially split into two distinct municipalities. It was at this point that the ethnic-Albanian south side of the Ibar River officially became simply “Mitrovica/Mitrovicë”, while the ethnic-Serbian north side of the river continued to refer to itself as “Kosovska Mitrovica”. This name distinction continues up to the present day.
The legacy of “Titova Mitrovica” is one that is largely absent from the contemporary landscape of the city. The name has truly been retired and can no longer be seen invoked on any level on either side of the river. Its existence as a Tito Town, a gesture towards “Brotherhood & Unity”, was short lived, seeming not to have the positive impact that was intended. Sadly, tensions between the two sides of the river persist up until today, with NATO’s KFOR peacekeepers mission, which started in 1999, still patrolling the city. Meanwhile, on both sides of the river, new monuments have been erected that reflect this continued division. The one looming marker that speaks to unity and the Yugoslav era is the Miner’s Monument, standing nearly 20m tall atop Partisan Hill on the north side of the Ibar River. Taking the form of an ore cart raised upon two oversized pillars, its author Bogdan Bogdanović intended these two pillars to symbolize the city’s two ethnic groups working together towards the goals of freedom and prosperity.
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Mitrovica on the legacy of “Titova Mitrovica”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović.
Titovo Velenje (today Velenje, Slovenia)
In the decades before WWII, Velenje was a collection of several small mining settlements of roughly 1,700 people, all nestled in Lower Styria's Šalek Valley. Coal was the primary resource that was mined across the valleys. Directly after WWII, Velenje underwent several years of intense development of its coal mining infrastructure, a program spearheaded by the government of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. As the economic importance of Velenje as a regional mining hub for Slovenia became increasingly apparent, central planning authorities determined that 14,000 additional mining workers for Velenje would be needed. To satisfy this growing demand, an entirely new purpose-built extension of the town was constructed between the 1950s and 1970s to accommodate this vast expansion of the town’s mining sector. Laid out by architect Janez Trenz, this “New Velenje” concept created a Le Corbusier-style park-like green city populated with modern architecture and state-of-the-art amenities, with it being designed in such a way as to give mine workers the highest standard of living. During this era, people from across Yugoslavia migrated to Velenje to take part in these new mining jobs. At the center of this new town was a vast plaza adorned with gardens and fountains, aptly named Tito Square. In 1962, Trenz, along with his project colleagues Franc Smid and Ciril Pogačnik, were all awarded the Prešeren Award for their work in the urban planning of Velenje (the highest professional award in Slovenia).
News reports and historical documents routinely refer to Velenje as "Yugoslavia in miniature" and was hailed as a showpiece for what Yugoslavia could be as a nation, which is more than likely one of the main reasons that Tito was so involved with the city and visited it so many times, such as he famously did upon his visit to the town in 1963 when he brought along with him Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev. As one source points out: "The industrialization and modernization of life, as well as the brotherhood and unity of the Yugoslav nations, were the central points of Tito's vision, which is why he encouraged and supported the development of Velenje". The town was intended to be a symbol for a new future, not only for Velenje, but for Yugoslavia as a whole. Fittingly, in 1977, the city erected a massive 6.3m tall statue of Josip Broz Tito in the center of Tito Square. This sculptural work was unveiled on June 25th and was based on the work of famous Croatian artist Antun Augustinčić (but carried out by Vladimir Herljević & Ivan Pavić). The statue is identical to a smaller human-sized version that Augustinčić first created in 1947 and placed next to Tito's birth home in Kumrovec, Croatia (more info HERE). The date of the unveiling of this Tito statue was meant to mark 40 years since Tito became head of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, as well as Tito's 85th birthday year and the 40th anniversary of the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia. Over 20,000 people attended the ceremonial unveiling of the statue and it is said to be the largest public gathering ever in the town’s history, even up to the present day. Tito was invited to this unveiling, but was unable to attend. He passed away just three years later in 1980. It must be mentioned that during the 1977 ceremony inaugurating this Tito statue, it was already being popularly discussed that the town should name itself after Tito.
After Tito’s passing, the initiative to have a community in Slovenia be named after Tito immediately was set into motion at the highest levels. In 1981, the Socialist Alliance of the Slovenian People (SZDL) created a special commission for selecting a town in Slovenia to be named after Tito. The commission put forward six towns to be considered: Trbovlje, Kočevje, Novo Mesto, Krško, Nova Gorica and Velenje. Of this list, the last two towns were shortlisted for special consideration. Given Velenje’s history and connection to Tito, it is no surprise it was so quickly nominated and shortlisted, though, Nova Gorica’s shortlisting is of no surprise either, as its development and contemporary expansion closely mirrored that of Velenje and was also a project personally supported by Tito himself. However, at the end, the commission suggested Velenje as its final choice for the “Tito” prefix honor. On March 11th, 1981, Viktor Avbelj, the President of the Presidency of the SR of Slovenia, personally visited Velenje to deliver this news. As a result, in June of 1981, the Velenje Municipal Assembly considered the SZDL commission’s offer, wherein they ultimately accepted it unanimously. The final resolution was passed by the assembly on October 10th, 1981, thus officially changing the name of the town to “Titovo Velenje”. In the text of the resolution, written by the assembly president Franjo Korun, it reads: “With love and loyalty of Tito’s great deeds, with unwavering trust in Tito’s path, with the desire to permanently commemorate the successes of our socialist construction and our future with TIto’s name, we, the working people and citizens of Velenje, decided to name our city Titovo Velenje”.
This name change was met with much enthusiasm by the people of Titovo Velenje, particularly by the many newer residents of the city, who saw the name change as representative of the town's cultural diversity and upward mobility. In 1982, filmmaker Antun Markić created a documentary about the town called “Uvijek smo bili Titovo Velenje” or “We’ve Always Been TItovo Velenje”, which celebrated the cultural history of the town and its connection to Tito. Meanwhile, the era of the 1980s, during which Yugoslavia underwent many economic difficulties, Titovo Velenje was relatively stable as a result of its strong industrial production, furthering the positive feelings people had about the name change. However, sentiments began to change in the early 1990s as Yugoslavia itself began to fracture. The first post-WWII multi-party elections were held in Velenje (as well as the result of Slovenia) on April 8th, 1990, leading to significant changes across the political landscape. Two months later in July, the Green Slovenia party put forward the motion to remove the “Titovo” prefix from the town’s name, with this resolution passing in the Titovo Velenje Assembly on July 17th, 1990. As such, the name of the town officially reverted back to simply “Velenje”, with it having existed as “Titovo Velenje” for just shy of nine years. Furthermore, it is interesting to point out that Velenje was the very first of all Yugoslavia’s Tito Town’s to officially drop its “Tito” prefix and revert to its former name. Less than a year later on June 25th, 1991, Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia.
Despite this 1990 name change, other elements of Velenje went unchanged. The name of the central plaza “Tito Square” was maintained, as well as the massive statue of Tito sitting at the center of it. Numerous resolutions have been put forward over the subsequent decades to remove the statue and change the name of the square, but these have all failed to pass. The situation here with the Tito statue in Velenje is markedly different from the reaction Titovo Užice had towards its large Tito statue, where it was brought down and removed from its central square during a raucous public gathering. In fact, it could be said that very little about Tito Square has changed since the Yugoslav-era, with the vast majority of its monuments, architecture and design left very much in its original condition. Because of the town’s determination in keeping ahold of its Tito-heritage landmarks, it can certainly be said that present-day Velenje has an overall positive relationship with its “Titovo Velenje” historic namesake. The regional tourism board’s website openly highlights this history, while the Tito statue is one of Velenje’s main touristic attractions. Furthermore, the town hosts official walking tours for visitors that explore Velenje’s Yugoslav-era past and its Tito connection, while sources recount that the most popular souvenir for sale at Velenje’s Tourist Information Center is a t-shirt that says “Titovo Velenje” with a red star at its center. In 2016, a dessert shop opened up near the town’s waterfront at Lake Rudniške that was named “Titovo Velenje” Ice Cream, which turned out to be a notable success. In an article about the Tito-themed shop, a local magazine noted: “The people of Velenje are proud of their entire history, so despite the fact that Tito was a controversial historical figure, the owner did not encounter any negative reactions”. Perhaps the reason for Tito’s enduring legacy in Velenje is related to a phenomenon where, as explained by Slovene historian Bojan Godeša: “Tito has remained in public spaces especially in areas where his (symbolic) role in the past was so unambiguous that even the proponents of radical deconstruction of “communist” heritage fail to alter his enduring historical significance.”
To listen to some meditations and contemporary thoughts from the people of Velenje on the legacy of “Titovo Velenje”, I recommend viewing of THIS CLIP from the 2017 documentary film "Bila so Titova mesta" or "They Were Tito's Towns", by the director Amir Muratović. For more info about the Yugoslav-era monuments of Velenje, see the Spomenik Database profile for the town at THIS link.
Titov Veles (today Veles, North Macedonia)
Situated at the northern extent of the Tikveš plain in the center of what is present-day North Macedonia is the city of Veles. Nestled along the Vardar River, Veles has long been known for its revolutionary spirit and its fight against historic oppression, whether that be against the Ottomans, the Bulgarians or the Axis Nazi forces. During WWII, it was recognized for its grassroots Partisan resistance against occupation and its anti-fascist activities. In fact, it was the 8th Macedonian-Veles Partisan Brigade that liberated Veles from Axis occupation on November 9th, 1944. Furthermore, as soon as the war ended, Veles immediately sought to exert its industrial heart, starting factories dedicated to metal fabrication, ceramics (“Jugoporcelan”) and textiles (“Nonča Kamišova”). As a result of this WWII heritage and industrial spirit, Veles was quickly recognized as a city within the new Socialist Republic of Macedonia that was a symbol of the “new Yugoslavia”.
Consequently, on October 10th, 1946, the Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia passed a resolution called the “Law on Renaming CIties” where the city of Veles would be officially given the new honorific title “Titov Veles”. This motion was passed by the Veles Municipal Assembly the following day, making the name change official on October 11th, a date that also marked the 15th anniversary of the Day of Macedonia Uprising against fascist occupation during WWII. Of the original four cities in Yugoslavia named after Tito during the 1945/1946 period, Titov Veles was the last to be honored.
Just eight years later on July 7th, 1954, President Josip Broz Tito made his first official visit to TItov Veles as he passed through via train during a return visit he was making to Greece. Accompanied by his wife Jovanka, he stepped onto the platform and greeted thousands of well-wishers who had gathered to meet him on this historic first visit to the town. He gave a brief speech and then continued on his way north to Skopje. Tito made an official visit again in July of 1957, where he was given tours of the “Nonča Kamišova” silk factory and the “Jugoporcelan” (aka "Boris Kidrič") ceramic factory. Tito made several more stopovers in Titov Veles over the years, such as in 1961, 1967, 1970, among others. The last visit that Tito made to Titov Veles was in 1978, two years before his passing. During this trip, the Lead and Zinc Smelter “Zletovo” presented him with the “Golden Plaque” award. Tito was also gifted a copy of the film “Fire” by director Stale Popov, which documented the lives of workers at the smelting plant. For being such a small city in the remote center of the SR of Macedonia, Tito surprisingly made many visits to Titov Veles, which no doubt was a result of the community being named in his honor. Interestingly, despite it being named after Tito and his many visits to the city, no monument to Tito was ever erected anywhere within the community. The major memorial site created in Titov Veles during the Yugoslav-era was the “Tomb of the Heroes” ossuary created in 1979 by Ljubomir Denković & Savo Subotin [more info HERE].
Its five decades as Titov Veles during the Yugoslav-era was a vibrant and productive time for the community. Though it may not have been as affluent as other parts of the country, it experienced high levels of development, urbanism, and industry. Most notably, the production of ceramics by the Jugoporcelan-Boris Kidrič factory created pieces of fine dinnerware, tea sets, figurines and much more that spread all across the country and remain as beloved collectibles up until the present day. Each of these wares were stamped prominently with its place of origin “TItov Veles”, making the city very well known within Yugoslavia for the manufacture of these products alone.
In the early 1990s, the political state of Yugoslavia began to fracture and the country started the process of dismantling. While Croatia (and to a lesser degree Slovenia) experienced unrest and violence after their proclamations of independence, Macedonia did so peacefully and without major incident in September of 1991. However, like many other Tito Towns, Titov Veles did not immediately revert to its former name. In fact, it kept its “Titov” prefix for another five years until it was obliged to change it in 1996 when the National Assembly of Macedonia passed the Law on the Territorial Division. It was at this point on September 14th, 1996 that the city officially changed its name back to simply “Veles”, after having held onto the name “TItov Veles” for one month shy of 50 years. Meanwhile, all streets and squares named after Tito were also changed during this time period.
Presently, the lasting legacy of Tito and TItov Veles in modern Veles are largely absent. The primary objects in the city that bear witness to this era are the many Partisan memorial plaques installed around the city from the Yugoslav-era that still refer to the town as “Titov Veles”. All regional street signs and road markers pointing in the direction of Veles have long been replaced with updated signage. The only place in the city that openly presents any history or heritage of WWII or Yugoslav-era is in the Veles National Museum and the “Tomb of the Heroes” ossuary. As far as contemporary cultural references, in 2009, the Macedonian film director Teona Strugar Mitevska released a film titled “I Am From Titov Veles” or “Jas sum od Titov Veles”, which chronicles the life of a young woman from the town who struggles within the community’s post-Yugoslav decline, while suffering in the town’s pollution caused by the Zletovo lead factory. As one reviewer writes, it is “no nostalgia-film and is more of an appraisal of the things lost to communism – the world did not wait for Macedonia or Yugoslavia, and now Veles seems stranded in time”. The film won international critical acclaim.
One interesting recent footnote to mention that invoked the legacy of “Titov Veles” was a curious incident during 2016. During the American presidential elections that year, young people in Veles began to publish vast amounts of fake news articles and Facebook posts related to Donald Trump amidst his run for election against Hillary Clinton. Sources report that hundreds of school children were involved in this operation. Once the source of this media manipulation came to light, it made international news. As a result, people began to jokingly refer to the former town of “Titov Veles” as “Trampov Veles” or “Trump’s Veles”. A BBC article on the topic reported Veles mayor Slavco Čediev admitting that “he's rather proud if the entrepreneurs of his tiny little city, thousands of miles from the US, have in any way influenced the outcome of the American election”.
While the legacy of Tito in Veles may be difficult to notice upon visiting the city, it is not a legacy that is looked on with derision or anger. Instead, Veles has made an attempt to gently sidestep away from its Yugoslav past and forge a more distinct identity within its new cultural context, particularly in cultivating its historic Macedonian roots. The town’s Partisan heritage continues to be celebrated at the Tomb of the Heroes ossuary and WWII commemorative plaques across the city that bear the name “Titov Veles” remain intact and in good condition. While the town’s name has changed, the spirit of Tito has not been abandoned.
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